| The Bicycle Hotel & Casino | |
|---|---|
| Address | 888 Bicycle Casino Drive Bell Gardens, California 90201 |
| Opening date | November 30, 1984 |
| Casino type | Land |
| Previous names | The Bicycle Casino |
| Renovated in | 2015 (Hotel Addition) |
| Website | www.thebike.com |
The Bicycle Hotel & Casino is a pokercardroom in California.[1]
Founded by George Hardie Sr. in 1984, located in Bell Gardens, California, The Bicycle Casino offers a selection of poker games and Asian games, with a wide range of limits. The casino features games including: Blackjack, Texas Hold 'Em, Seven Card Stud, Omaha hold 'em, Mexican Poker, Pai Gow Poker, Three Card Poker and Baccarat (card game).
Financing to build the original Bicycle Club casino was provided by Sam Gilbert, who allegedly used money partially obtained from laundering drug money.[2] The casino is home to the Legends of Poker, a tournament series established in 1995 that now includes a stop on the World Poker Tour. Prior to the Legends, the casino's main tournament series was called the Diamond Jim Brady.[3]
Seizure and indictment[edit]
In 1987, Sam Gilbert was the subject of a federal investigation into money laundering and racketeering charges. According to the investigation, a scheme to launder the money received from smuggling marijuana was put together to finance the construction of the Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, California.[2][4] According to one criminal complaint,
| “ | '[Sam Gilbert] a wealthy Los Angeles businessman, was the first Gilbert to establish ties with the Kramer family when he befriended Benjamin Kramer's father, Jack Kramer, in 1978. At that time, Jack Kramer and Sam Gilbert came up with the idea of building a legal card club for the purposes of laundering Benjamin Kramer's dirty money. By 1983, Sam Gilbert was in contact with David Pierson, who was himself thinking of building a card club and was looking for legitimate investors. Pierson gave Sam Gilbert a prospectus, Sam liked what he saw, and Sam agreed to arrange the financing for the project in return for a sixty percent share of Pierson's ownership interest in the Club.'[5] | ” |
Gilbert was indicted in Miami 4 days after his death.[6] His son Michael also was indicted.
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- Working at the Bicycle Hotel & Casino has gave me more knowledge towards working with customer in a more sensitive environment, customer service. Learning how to turn a upset customer, to a happy one.
- Bicycle Casino Poker Room. The Bicycle Casino is one of the largest and, we think, best poker rooms in the country. The room is located directly off the 710 freeway in Los Angeles and is easily accessible from downtown LA, the Westside and Orange County.
The U.S. Government seized the casino in April, 1990, after a jury found that $12 million of the $22 million used in its construction came from Florida drug smugglers.[7] The club's profits were frozen and placed in a special U.S. marshal account until the court held civil hearing to determine which partners knew that the club was built with drug money.
George Hardie and The Park Place Associates ownership were exonerated in 1990, and they regained their 35% stake.[8]
In July 1991 a Florida federal judge ruled that at least one of the partners, former Los Angeles Westside banker M. Dale Lyon, knew about the club's financing. Eight other partners in the LCP Associates, the partnership named for Lyon, Coyne and Pierson, agreed to forfeit portions of their interest in the club before the civil hearing began. LCP partners Julianne Coyne and former California Assemblyman David C. Pierson settled before the civil hearing. In 1991, they agreed to give up about half of their interest in LCP, which had a 65% stake in the casino.[7]
By the time it sold its share of the casino in 1996, the US government had made tens of millions of dollars in profit from its share of the casino. As a partner in the club, the government also contributed to political campaigns to defeat the proposal to build a rival card club in Orange County.[9]
2017 raid[edit]
The casino was again raided by federal authorities citing money laundering as a part of an ongoing investigation into some players using the casino to exchange “dirty money” for chips, then turn cashing those in for “clean money.”[10]
Live at the Bike[edit]
The Bicycle Hotel & Casino was the first brick and mortar casino to broadcast live poker games over the Internet in a program known as Live at the Bike.[citation needed] It ran five nights a week, and was accessible via the casino's website. The show sometimes featured guest commentary from professional players like Barry Greenstein and Kenna James.
Live at the Bike became a subscription service in mid-2006. The live broadcast was canceled in March 2007, but returned in January 2011 on PokerNetcast.com.[citation needed]
Expansion[edit]
The Bicycle Hotel & Casino underwent a major hotel expansion in the Fall of 2015. The new seven-story, 117,907 square-foot complex now includes live entertainment, gaming, cocktail lounge, brewery, fitness center, sundeck with an outdoor bar, and a number of places to dine.[11]
In popular media[edit]
The Bicycle Casino was featured in an episode of the TV series Numb3rs dealing with the murder of a successful card-counter, who coincidentally was also heavily into bicycle home repair.[12]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^'The Bicycle Hotel & Casino'.
- ^ abGLENN F. BUNTING and TINA GRIEGO - Miami Trial Gives Startling New Portrait of Sam Gilbert. Los Angeles Times, April 23, 1990
- ^'Bicycle Casino Review - The Bike'.
- ^GLENN F. BUNTING. Investors Face High-Stakes Battle for Casino Profits. Los Angeles Times, May 29, 1990
- ^44 F3d 888 United States of America v. Michael Gilbert244 F.3d 888 (11th Cir. 2001)
- ^WILLIAM OVEREND and WILLIAM NOTTINGHAM - Sports Figure Is Indicted--4 Days After Death. Los Angeles Times, November 26, 1987
- ^ abGriego, Tina. Forfeiture Laws Give U.S. a Piece of a Casino : Narcotics: Government now owns about 30% of Bicycle Club in Bell Gardens, which was built to a large extent with smuggled drug money. Los Angeles Times, August 22, 1990
- ^Griego, Tina. Court Clears Casino Manager and Partners : George G. Hardie and his financial partners will regain ownership rights to the profitable Bicycle Club in Bell Gardens. Los Angeles Times, October 04, 1990
- ^U.S. to Sell Share of Bicycle Casino for $25 Million
- ^KTLA.com: Bicycle Hotel and Casino in Bell Gardens Raided by Federal Authorities
- ^'Archived copy'. Archived from the original on 2015-02-24. Retrieved 2015-03-05.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- ^'Double Down'. 13 January 2006 – via IMDb.
External links[edit]
Coordinates: 33°57′59″N118°09′58″W / 33.966312°N 118.166148°W
| Commerce Casino | |
|---|---|
| Location | Commerce, California 90040 |
| Address | 6131 East Telegraph Road |
| Opening date | August 1983 |
| Theme | Assyrian/Babylonian[1] |
| No. of rooms | 200 |
| Total gaming space | 91,694 square feet (8,518.7 m2) |
| Casino type | Land |
| Owner | California Commerce Club, Inc.[2] |
| Renovated in | 2001 (hotel addition) |
| Website | www.commercecasino.com |
Commerce Casino is a cardroom located in the Los Angeles suburb of Commerce. With over 240 tables on site, Commerce Casino is the largest cardroom in the world.[3] Established in 1983, the casino accounted for 38% of Commerce's tax revenues for the 2006-2007 fiscal year.[4] As of 2016, the casino was providing $22 million a year in licensing fees to the city.[5]
In addition to the main cardroom, the Commerce Casino complex includes a full-service 200-room Crowne Plaza Hotel, which houses dining establishments, a day spa, beauty salon, pool and sundeck, banquet rooms, shops and entertainment. The Commerce is also home to several restaurants and host to live boxing, MMA and Professional Wrestling events. Commerce Casino opened a Playboy-themed gaming lounge in 2014.[6]
- 1Poker
Poker[edit]
The Commerce Casino offers a wide variety of limit, pot limit and no limit poker games, including:
The casino spreads more Texas Hold'em games than any other casino in the world.[citation needed] Commerce spreads hold'em games as low as 2-3 and 2-4. 3-6, 4-8 & 6-12 exist on the main floor, with 8-16 and larger limit games in the Hotel section. No Limit Hold 'em games have buy-ins as low as $40 and go much higher. There is a new $5/10 $500/$1500 spread No Limit Hold'em game which was first created in 2008.
The Casino's bad beat jackpots sometimes grow into six figures.[citation needed] Commerce Casino offers a $100,000 Super Jackpot for Hold 'em.
Players can bring members of a home game to the Casino and they will provide game instruction, dealers, a pit boss, cards, chips and poker snacks. The 'home' games act as live cash games and are eligible for jackpots.
Classes[edit]
The casino offers free poker lessons on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Beginner classes are Tuesdays from 8 pm to 10 pm and intermediate classes are held on Thursdays from 8 pm to 10 pm. Registration is available at the company website. The instructor is Roger Rodd 'Poker Comedian and Poker Instructor to the Stars.'
Tournaments[edit]
The Commerce Casino is home to several poker tournament series,[7] including:
- Los Angeles Poker Classic - Annual tournament beginning in January and running through early March. This is Commerce's major tournament of the year, involving a World Poker Tour event, a Professional Poker Tour event and the celebrity event, the World Poker Tour Invitational.
- California State Poker Championship - Annual tournament, held in May. Originally held in June, the tournament was moved to avoid conflict with the World Series of Poker.
- Commerce Hold 'em Series - Annual tournament held in September with smaller buy-ins where every event is Texas hold 'em.
- The L.A. Poker Open - Annual tournament held in November.
Restaurants[edit]
The Commerce Casino is home to several eating establishments,[8] including:
- Wood Dragon Restaurant - Chinese cuisine, the restaurant is located in the Main Lobby of the Crowne Plaza Hotel.
- The Arena Sports Bar & Grill - Offers a variety of International cuisine with entertainment, live sporting events and karaoke on various nights. Located in the hotel near the Hi-Limit Section.
- The Commerce Cafe - Near the Main Poker Room offering Traditional American cuisine, pastries and Starbucks hot and iced coffees.
- Tableside Dining
California games[edit]
Commerce also offers Pan, No Bust Blackjack, 3 Card Poker, Let It Ride, Caribbean Stud Poker, 21st Century Baccarat, EZ Baccarat, Pai Gow Poker, Super Pan Nine and 13 Card (Chinese poker).
Games besides poker, such as the ones listed above, are called 'California Games' and have been modified to conform to California state gambling laws. The primary difference between California Games and normal casino table games is that the player does not play against the house but rather plays against a third party provider that banks the games. California law requires that all non-poker games at the Commerce Casino or any California card room are player-banked, meaning players play only against one another, and never against the house. Any player that regularly banks the 'player banked games' and does not have a contract with the casino to do so will be barred from the casino. The Commerce serves as a host for these games, providing a venue for their play and benefits indirectly off the gambling revenue through 'rent' payments from the third party provider. The casino also charges a collection to play the game usually 1% of the bet wagered (rounded up to the nearest dollar) for hosting these games.[9]
Off-Track Betting[edit]
The Racebook at Commerce Casino opened in July 2009, featuring mini satellite wagering from California and Eastern U.S. race tracks. There is no admission fee.
Popular culture[edit]
- In 'So Close, Yet So Far', the second episode of the AMC television series, Fear the Walking Dead, an aerial nighttime shot of Los Angeles in the early stages of the zombie apocalypse shows the casino and hotel tower engulfed in flames next to a gridlocked Santa Ana Freeway.
- A comedy sketch promoting the casino was featured in First Night 2013 with Jamie Kennedy, a New Year's Eve television special hosted by comedian and television producer Jamie Kennedy.
- In Twin Peaks the return, the casino was featured as the Silver Mustang.
Notes[edit]
Bicycle Casino Poker Blog
- ^Commerce Casino Media KitArchived 2006-10-22 at the Wayback Machine, p. 14
- ^Ibid.Archived 2006-10-22 at the Wayback Machine, p. 15
- ^Two Rags review
- ^City of Commerce 2006-07 complete budgetArchived 2007-02-21 at the Wayback Machine, p. 4
- ^Elmahrek, Adam (September 7, 2016). 'Mountain resorts, rent subsidies and saunas: The benefits of living in a city plagued by scandal'. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
- ^'Lucky Rabbit Party Pit Playboy Poker Room'. The Commerce Casino. Archived from the original on 24 July 2015. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
- ^Commercecasino.com: TournamentsArchived 2009-05-14 at the Wayback Machine
- ^Commercecasino.com: RestaurantsArchived 2011-06-25 at the Wayback Machine
- ^California Games and Jackpots
External links[edit]
Coordinates: 33°59′54″N118°08′41″W / 33.998407°N 118.144587°W